Senator CLARK. Thank you. Senator McGovern has arrived. Senator CLARK. Good. This panel, Senator McGovern, is made up of Mr. Poore, Mr. Ellis, and Mr. Robinson. Mr. Poore already has spoken. and the other two have yet to speak. We are going to Mr. Goldberg and then through the list. So I leave you in good hands. Thank you very much. Senator McGovern. Senator MCGOVERN [presiding]. All right, then I can proceed then with the next witness. I am sorry that I was unable to be here this morning, but as you gentlemen know, we have committee assignments that sometimes conflict. We have to divide our time. STATEMENT OF EDWARD ELLIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KENTUCKY YOUTH RESEARCH CENTER, FRANKFORT, KY. Mr. ELLIS. I am Edward Ellis. I am the director of the Kentucky Youth Research Center, a private, nonprofit organization, and I want to thank the committee for this opportunity to testify for this Senate bill 850. Our organization operates a large portion of the Head Start centers in the most rural Appalachian areas in isolated counties of east Kentucky where the average per capita annual income is roughly $1,568, an amount well below the national poverty guidelines and the average family income in this area is roughly $3,098. Of the 3,141 counties in the Nation, one of our counties ranks 3,140, which is second, and another ranks 3,138, which is the fourth poorest county, a dubious honor, I assure you, but one that points up the tremendous needs for these very isolated poor that we serve. The research center serves 940 children and their families through Head Start and its 27 child development centers and through its health and social services program which focuses on the child's family, provides the vital link between the center and the home while these preschool children are being introduced to good health, nutritional, and physical development at the center. The health and social services staff encourages and helps the parents to carry over these practices in the child's own home. Parents are further encouraged to visit and volunteer in the centers and to become familiar with what their children are learning. Now, here is where the real needs are with these families and with these children. In addition to the Head Start program that we have in our private, nonprofit organization, we also have a large Appalachian Regional Commission child development program. funds granted to Kentucky for the operator of another similar early childhood development program in east Kentucky, which serve 1.203 children in 49 child development centers. This program serves several categories of children, those unable to pay, those who pay a fee, including children of working mothers, and a limited number of purchaseof-care services for children from the State categorical assistance programs. In addition to the actual operation of these early childhood programs our organization offers training, technical assistance, and monitoring services, and we subcontract with six locally operated agencies in seven additional counties, making a 20-county area in Appalachian eastern Kentucky. Kentucky as a whole of course has other full year Head Start programs, 28 and 30, summer Head Start programs. All these programs strive to stimulate children's mental and physical potential and to thus enrich their present and future lives. A good nutritional program such as is basic in the bill proposed, S. 850, is a very vital one since our agency has witnessed that working with children in the centers who are so malnourished and listless that they could not be stimulated by anything except food, and over a period of time and after a few nourishing meals in the center, many times the only meals they received during the day, they did become interested in center activities. They began to look healthy, be curious, and enjoy life as children should. The research center became a participant in the special food services. program about 4 years ago, and these are points that I particularly wanted to make, as a citizen and particularly as a director for a large system and agency because we did not know about this program. No dissemination of information was ever given. We did not understand that we were eligible, but it was only after much discussion that I found that under the USDA act that we were eligible, and we applied-and we were one of the first Head Start programs and child development programs in the country to have received reimbursable food costs at an early time. It was only later that the other national Head Start programs were also allowed to receive reimbursement, and as of September 1, 1974, we are being reimbursed by the State at 78 cents per child per day, based on the average daily attendance, which represents 18 cents for breakfast, 36 cents for lunch, and 12 cents each for two snacks. Prior to September 1974, the amount per child was only 65 cents. This program, along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture food program represents approximately $209,898 in reimbursements for costs and $25,491 in donated foods to our static budget these last few years. These amounts do not begin to pay for the actual expenses involved in a good nutritional program. Present reimbursable costs do not pay for salaries, space, and nonfood consumable items, such as napkins, cleaning and janitorial supplies. Senate bill 850 will go a long way toward helping to meet these rising costs and meet the needs, especially in the area of services or equipment that are so important to continue nutritional needs and services. The funds from this Senate bill if given to us will make it possible for us to do an adequate job in preparation, storage, maintenance, and handling of foods. Also, it will make it possible for the first time to relieve other portions of static budget in the spiraling inflationary economy. This bill, S. 850, in a widespread rural system such as ours go unnoticed many times. Such other centers, particularly single center operations and family care centers are never informed about what they may or may not be eligible for. It would be our hope that there would be something included in this bill to help make this dissemination and do monitoring and followup. This calls for some, I understand, additional thoughts being given to the bill. Special food services program and commodity food program has not only improved the health and nutrition of the children. but through parent involvement in the program, which is our main thrust in this area, has allowed the program to enable the health social services and center staff to share nutritional information with parents in a more meaningful way. The Kentucky Youth Research Center is a large system, as I said before, and through its several Head Start centers and 10 years' experience, it has learned over the years to seek out sources of relief for a budget that has not increased while costs in every area of the program have increased. The programs with a single center as their base of operations and limited additional health and social services components are limited by no access to this kind of dissemination of needed information regarding good nutritional or food service programs. If Head Start, as well as any other child care program, is to reach the goals and follow the guidelines set by the Federal Government, with no increase in funds to meet rising costs, a more efficient method of information dissemination regarding fund resources, such as special foods services program, is needed. All Head Start programs, large and small, should be kept informed as to where the resources are and how to tap them. The approach used by our Agency in encouraging good nutrition in both centers and homes has been beneficial to the people reached in our program, though these benefits are only limited by our financial inability to expand into other areas of need. Our program only reaches approximately 20 percent of the families in the 20 county areas in which we serve. There are 80 percent that are still in need. It is not because the demand is not there. It is, but there are no funds to expand the program. I would stop here only to say that with the rising food prices even our participation in the special foods services program did not ease the financial situation because of the limited reimbursable cost and did not help us in any way other than to move very little money to meet some of the basic program services. In the future if Senate bill 850 is passed, the reimbursable cost for food services should be based on the Consumer Price Index as provided in the bill. I feel that the Senate bill on the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Acts would greatly benefit children and families served in all Head Start, day care, and child development programs across this Nation, and I strongly urge its passage. Senator McGOVERN. Thank you very much, Mr. Ellis. We appreciate your testimony. I was impressed with what you said about not knowing about the existence of the program to help Head Start children. Is there no real outreach effort being made to acquaint people with the availability of this food program? Mr. ELLIS. No; there had not been in our particular State, and it was only at a guideline directed from the Office of Child Development to Head Start programs that many programs learned about it. I was just fortunate in having been in the position of having friends who worked with State agencies who alerted me to the fact, and then even after a couple of years of fighting, we were finally approved. It took me roughly 2 years to get it through. Senator MCGOVERN. I was impressed with the observation that you made, which so many other witnesses have made before this commit tee in the last 5 or 6 years, and that is the impossibility of really stimulating children that are malnourished and listless and underfed. I remember some years ago the Dean of the University of Georgia made the observation that the school lunch program and other child feeding programs, in his opinion, had done more to advance the education and economic development of the South than any other single Federal program. He explained it in these terms: There were hundreds of thousands of children in the South, and I suppose that it true of other parts of the country prior to the development of these child nutrition programs, who never really had an opportunity to develop, either emotionally or physically or mentally because of malnutrition, and if you even get a handful of young people whose lives are turned around by adequate diets and maybe develop into leaders and creative people, it makes this whole effort worthwhile. Mr. ELLIS. That, sir, is one of the very strong points, that I think we should say for Head Start because how can you expect children to begin with a head start when they are so concerned with where the next meal comes from. They cannot become involved. Senator MCGOVERN. Mr. Ellis, we will come back to you right after this rollcall. We will recess for about 10 minutes. We have a problem on time. We have to complete the hearings by 1 o'clock, and we have eight or nine people who have not yet been heard from. The only formula I can think of is to ask each person to summarize the highlights of their prepared statement and then submit the full statement for the record. Because of these time constrictions, we will have to submit questions in writing on matters we want to interrogate the witnesses about, and give you a couple of weeks to reply. I do not know any other way we are going to be able to meet this 1 o'clock deadline. I will be back just as quickly as I can, and I will try not to be gone more than 7 or 8 minutes. A brief recess was taken.] Senator McGOVERN. The committee will be in order. We are now ready to hear Mr. Robinson. Mr. ROBINSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. STATEMENT OF GEORGE M. ROBINSON, STATE DAY CARE SUPERVISOR, SOCIAL SERVICE BOARD OF NORTH DAKOTA, BISMARCK, N. DAK. Mr. ROBINSON. I am George Robinson from North Dakota, representing the North Dakota Social Service Board and other interested groups and individuals in North Dakota involved in day care. I am very pleased to be able to come before your committee, and talk about this bill. For the sake of time I am going to stay away from my written testimony and just briefly give some summary remarks in regard to the bill. Senator McGOVERN. We will make your full statement part of the record. Mr. ROBINSON. Thank you. First, all the things that the previous two speakers have said I would totally agree with; most importantly, the importance of nutrition for 52-880 0-75- -15 |